| The first facility was located at the southeast corner of Market and Juniper Streets, the site of the John Wanamaker Department Store, now Lord and Taylor. The cornerstone for the new school building was laid on September 19, 1837. Three stories tall, the building was shaped like a T and included an astronomical observatory. The roof of the first Central High School building can be seen in what is considered the earliest surviving American photograph, made by Joseph Saxton in October 1839. A plaque commemorating the first CHS was affixed to the Wanamaker building until sometime in the 1980's when it was presented to the Central High School Achival Department; it is presently hung in the Main Corridor outside the renovated Barnwell Library. The first building initially house 63 students and a faculty of four. |
